football talent & fifa age group competitions

FOOTBALL TALENT & FIFA AGE

GROUP COMPETITIONS

2011

CRIG CONSULT

9/12/2011


GROUP COMPETITIONS

2011

CRIG CONSULT


GROUP COMPETITIONS

www.crigconsult.webs.com [email protected]

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CONTENTS

1. Cover page page 1

2. Contents page 2

3. Preface page 3

4. Scope of study page 4

5. Results page 4

6. Argentina page 5 – 9

7. Brazil page 10 – 14

8. Germany page 15 – 17

9. Ghana page 18 – 21

10. Japan page 22 – 25

11. Nigeria page 26 – 29

12. Spain page 30 – 33

13. Chart and analysis page 34 – 35

14. Conclusion page 36


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PREFACE

“…take a look at Xavi Hernandez and Iker Casillas, can we boast of our own players who

competed with them at the Nigeria U20 world cup?” This is an age long statement that you

will easily hear from a Nigerian football analyst. It is readily assumed that European and

South American countries employ a more effective age group progressive system to

provide talents for the National teams. But, how true is this assumption? Do we have facts

to prove that indeed this is not a mere cliché, and a wrong one at that?

I stumbled on the squad list for the Japan 1993 U17 world cup, and immediately observed

that a large number of the players who participated for such great football nations as

Brazil, Argentina et al, did not make a single appearance for the national team in the long

run. A quick analysis of the squad list of African nations such as Nigeria and Ghana, as well

as Japan and Germany immediately showed that Africa and Asia have fared better than

European countries in this regard.

The list of footballers who garnered at least one (1) cap for the senior national team, having

participated in either the FIFA U17 or U20 world cup competition between 1993 and 2005

were collated and recorded. The aim of this report is to provide incontrovertible answers

to the following questions:

1. Is it correct to say that the FIFA age group competitions serve as a nursery bed for

football talents?

2. What are the statistics of football talents that have progressed from the age group

competitions into full fledged international?

3. Which country and continent has effectively employed the FIFA age group tourney

to serve the aim of their establishment?

These questions are the motivating factors for this book. Have we really performed

abysmally? In what areas have we done well?

Now, let the fact speak for itself!


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SCOPE OF STUDY

CONTINENTS COVERED:

� AFRICA

� ASIA

� EUROPE

� SOUTH AMERICA

COUNTRIES COVERED:

� ARGENTINA

� BRAZIL

� GERMANY

� GHANA

� JAPAN

� NIGERIA

� SPAIN

AGE-GROUP COMPETITIONS COVERED (1993 – 2005):

� FIFA U 17 WORLD CUP

� FIFA U20 WORLD CUP

Rationale:

1. For easy collation of data

2. At the maximum, players that participated in the 2005 edition of the U17 world cup

are expected to be 23 years old, as at 2011. At this age, a player can be said to be at

the beginning of his peak.

3. Studying the players that participated in 1993 – 1999 will give a good track and

sense of history

www.crigconsult.webs.com

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ARGENTINA


1993

1. Fabricio Fuentes

2. Federico Dominguez

1995

1. Esteban Cambiasso

2. Aldo Duscher

3. Pablo Aimar

[email protected]

FIFA U 17 WORLD CUP

1 cap

1 cap

52 caps

3 caps

52 caps

[email protected]


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1997

1. Franco Costanzo 1 cap

2. Gabriel Milito 42 caps

3. Luciano Galleti 13 caps

4. Ernesto Farias 1 cap

1999 (Absent)

2001

1. Gonzalo Rodriguez 6 caps

2. Javier Mascherano 75 caps

3. Carlos Tevez 59 caps

4. Pablo Zabaleta 14 caps

2003

1. Oscar Ustari 1 cap

2. Ezequiel Garay 3 caps

3. Lucas Biglia 6 caps

4. Neri Cardozo 1 cap

5. Walter Avecedo 1 cap

6. Fernando gago 33 caps

2005 (Absent)


1993 (Absent)

1995

1. Federico Dominguez 1 cap

2. Gustavo Lombardi 2 caps

3. Juan Pablo Sorin 76 caps


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4. Ariel Ibagaza 2 caps

5. Diego Crosa 1 cap

1997

1. Leo Franco 4 caps

2. Leandro Damian Cufre 4 caps

3. Walter Samuel 56 caps

4. Esteban Cambiasso 52 caps

5. Juan Roman Ruquelme 117 caps

6. Bernardo Romeo 4 caps

7. Pablo Aimar 52 caps

8. Diego Placente 22 caps

9. Sebastian Ariel Romero 1 cap

10. Lionel Scaloni 7 caps

1999

1. Franco Costanzo 1 cap

2. Gabriel Milito 42 caps

3. Esteban Cambiasso 52 caps

4. Luciano Galleti 13 caps

5. Aldo Duscher 3 caps

6. Daniel Montenegro 52 caps

7. Sebastian Saja 4 caps

8. Ernesto Farias 1 cap

9. Federico Insua 14 caps

2001

1. German Lux 6 caps

2. Nicolas Burdisso 43 caps

3. Nicolas Medina 1 cap

4. Fabricio Coloccini 34 caps


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5. Javier Saviola 40 caps

6. Leandro Romagnoli 1 cap

7. Maxi Rodriguez 41 caps

8. Leandro Daniel Ponzio 7 caps

9. Andres D’Alessandro 25 caps

10. Mauro Rosales 10 caps

2003

1. Gonzalo Rodriguez 6 caps

2. Javier Mascherano 75 caps

3. Leandro Fernandez 5 caps


5. Fernando Cavenaghi 4 caps

6. Carlos Tevez 59 caps

7. Jonathan Bottinelli 1 cap


9. Jose Sosa 9 caps

2005

1. Oscar Ustari 1 cap

2. Lucas Biglia 6 caps


4. Ezequiel Garay 3 caps


6. Fenando Gago 33 caps

7. Lionel Messi 62 caps

8. Sergio Aguero 32 caps


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INTERESTING FACTS:

1. Esteban Cambiasso, who participated at the 1995 U17 world cup at the age of 14,

has won 22 official titles (as of the end of 2010) being the most decorated Argentine

footballer in history, alongside Alfredo di Stefano.

2. Gustavo Eberto, the Argentine 1st choice goalkeeper at the 2003 U20 world cup, died

of testicular cancer at the age of 24 in 2004.

ANALYSIS

U17 WORLD CUP

Year of

competition

1993 1995 1997 2001 2003

Successful

players (%)

11.10 16.70 22.20 22.20 30.00

Average % of successful players = 20.40%

U20 WORLD CUP

Year of

competition

1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005

Successful

players (%)

27.80 55.60 50.00 52.60 45.00 38.10



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BRAZIL


1993 (Absent)

1995

1. Julio Cesar 61 caps

2. Juan 79 caps

3. Renato 28 caps

4. Luis Eduardo 1 cap

1997

1. Ronaldinho 89 caps

2. Flavio 1 cap

3. Geovanni 1 cap


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1999

1. Eduardo Costa 7 caps

2. Leo Lima 4 caps

3. Adriano 48 caps

2001

1. Diego 33 caps

2003

1. Ederson 1 cap

2005

1. Marcelo 7 caps

2. Anderson 8 caps

3. Renato Augusta 3 caps


1993

1. Dida 91 caps

2. Argel Fucks 1 cap

3. Mario Jardel 10 caps

1995

1. Ze Elias 22 caps

2. Caio Rebeiro 4 caps

3. Cesar Belli 8 caps

4. Luizao 12 caps


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5. Denilson 68 caps

1997

1. Paulo Cesar 3 caps

2. Athirson 5 caps

3. Pedrinho 1 cap

4. Fernando 1 cap

5. Alex 49 caps

6. Helton 3 caps

7. Roni 5 caps

1999

1. Julio Ceasar 61 caps

2. Juan 79 caps

3. Ronaldinho 89 caps

4. Luis Eduardo 1 cap

5. Mancini 6 caps

6. Geovanni 1 cap

2001

1. Maicon 66 caps

2. Edu Dracena 2 caps

3. Eduardo Costa 7 caps

4. Fernando 8 caps

5. Adriano 48 caps

6. Baptista 47 caps

7. Leo Lima 4 caps

8. Luisao 42 caps

9. Kaka 82 caps


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2003

1. Fernando Henrique 1 cap

2. Daniel Alvez 50 caps

3. Daniel Carvalho 3 caps

4. Dudu Cearense 11 caps

5. Nilmar 23 caps

6. Adriano Correia 10 caps

7. Fernandinho 3 caps

2005

1. Rafinha 1 cap

2. Diego Souza 1 cap

3. Rafael Sobis 8 caps

4. Felipe kasmirski 1 cap

5. Diego Tardelli 5 caps

INTERESTING FACTS:

1. Rodrigo Lacerda Ramos and Denilson, captains of the Brazilian squad to the Nigeria

1999 U20 world cup and the Peru 2005 U17 world cup respectively, are yet to be

capped by the senior national team.

2. Julio Cesar, Juan, Ronaldinho and Adriano have all participated in the U17, U20 and

the FIFA world cup with Brazil.

3. Tiago dos Santos, who was part of the Brazilian squad to the 1999 U20 world cup,

has been capped once by Bulgaria.


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ANALYSIS

U17 WORLD CUP

Year of

competition

1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005

Successful

players (%)

22.20 16.70 16.70 5.60 5.00 15.00


U20 WORLD CUP

Year of

competition

1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005

Successful

players (%)

16.70 27.80 38.90 33.30 50.00 35.00 23.80



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GERMANY


1993 (Absent)

1995

1. Fabian Ernst

1997

1. Sebastian Kehl

2. Sebastian Deisler

1999

1. Thomas Hitzlsperger

2. Andreas hinkel

3. Andreas Gorlitz

[email protected]

FIFA U 17 WORLD CUP

24 caps

31 caps

36 caps

52 caps

21 caps

2 caps

[email protected]


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2001 (Absent)

2003 (Absent)

2005 (Absent)


1993

1. Carsten Ramelow 46 caps

2. Carsten Jancker 33 caps

3. Dietmar Hamann 59 caps

1995

1. Mustafa Dogan 2 caps

1997 (Absent)

1999

1. Timo Hildebrand 7 caps

2001

1. Hanno Balitsch 1 cap

2. Jermaine Jones 3 caps

3. Andreas Hinkel 21 caps

2003

1. Robert Huth 19 caps

2. Piotr Trochowski 35 caps

3. Christian Shulz 4 caps

4. Christian Pander 2 caps

5. Malik Fathi 2 caps


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2005

1. Rene Adler 10 caps

2. Marvin Compper 1 cap

3. Christian Gentner 3 caps

4. Marcel Jansen 36 caps

INTERESTING FACT:

1. Having been capped three (3) times by Germany in unofficial matches, Jermaine

Jones eventually garnered 12 caps for the USA.

ANALYSIS

U17 WORLD CUP

Year of

competition

1995 1997 1999

Successful

players (%)

5.60 11.10 16.70


U20 WORLD CUP

Year of

competition

1993 1995 1999 2001 2003 2005

Successful

players (%)

16.70 5.60 5.60 16.70 23.80 20.00



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GHANA


1993

1. Sebastian Barnes

2. Samuel Kuffour

3. Mark Edusei

4. Daniel Addo

5. Emmanuel Duah

1995

1. Bashiru Gambo

2. Stephen Appiah

3. Christian Gyan

4. Christian Saba

[email protected]

FIFA U 17 WORLD CUP

1 cap

59 caps

10 caps

27 caps

23 caps

4 caps

69 caps

23 caps

4 caps

[email protected]


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1997

1. Osei Boateng 1 cap

2. Hamza Mohammed 28 caps

3. Godwin Ansah 9 caps

4. Aziz Kingston 41 caps

5. Daniel Quaye 10 caps

1999

1. Michael Essien 52 caps

2. Razak Pimpong 10 caps

3. Ibrahim Abdul Razak 24 caps

4. Anthony Obodai 4 caps

5. Stephen Tetteh 5 caps

6. Stephen Oduro 1 cap

2005

1. David Telfer 1 cap

2. Samuel Oppong 1 cap

3. Opoku Agyemang 9 caps

4. Jonathan Quartey 9 caps

5. Emmanuel Ansong 1 cap


1993

1. Tephen Baidoo 3 caps

2. Nii Lamptey 38 caps

3. Augustine Ahinful 19 caps

4. Emmanuel Duah 23 caps


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5. Charles Akonnor 51 caps

6. Samuel Kuffour 59 caps

7. Daniel Addo 27 caps

1995 (Absent)

1997

1. Kofi Amponsah 9 caps

2. Christian Gyan 23 caps

3. Stephen Appiah 69 caps

4. Peter ofori Quaye 18 caps

5. Bashiru Gambo 4 caps

1999

1. Sammy Adjei 37 caps

2. Baffour Gyan 25 caps

3. Hamza Mohammed 28 caps

4. Stephen Appiah 69 caps

5. Aziz Ansah 9 caps

6. Laryea Kingston 41 caps

7. George Blay 7 caps

8. Osei Boateng 1 cap

9. Peter Ofori Quaye 18 caps

2001

1. Sulley Muntari 62 caps

2. Michael Essien 52 caps

3. Emmanuel Pappoe 28 caps

4. Ibrahim Abdul Razak 24 caps

5. Razak Pimpong 10 caps

6. Derek Boateng 26 caps


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7. Anthony Obodai 4 caps

8. John Mensah 73 caps

9. John Paintsil 68 caps

10. George Owu 9 caps

INTERESTING FACTS:

ANALYSIS

U17 WORLD CUP

Year of

competition

1993 1995 1997 1999 2005

Successful

players (%)

27.80 22.20 33.30 33.30 25.00


U20 WORLD CUP

Year of

competition

1993 1997 1999 2001

Successful

players (%)

38.90 27.80 50.00 55.60



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JAPAN


1993

1. Naoki Matsuda (RIP)

2. Tsuneyasu Miyamoto

3. Hidetoshi Nakata

4. Kazuyuki Toda

1995

1. Tomoyuki Sakai

2. Junichi Inamoto

3. Shinji Ono

4. Naohiro Takahara

1997 (Absent)

[email protected]

FIFA U 17 WORLD CUP

40 caps

71 caps

77 caps

20 caps

1 cap

82 caps

56 caps

57 caps

[email protected]


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1999 (Absent)

2001

1. Naoya kikuchi 1 cap

2. Kisho Yano 19 caps

3. Jungo Fujimoto 8 caps

2003 (Absent)

2005 (Absent)


1993 (Absent)

1995

1. Ryuzo Morioka 38 caps

2. Naoki Matsuda (RIP) 40 caps

3. Nobuhisa Yamada 15 caps

4. Hidetoshi Nakata 77 caps

5. Daisuke Oku 26 caps

6. Takashi Shimoda 1 cap

1997

1. Kazuyuki Toda 20 caps

2. Tsuneyasu Miyamoto 71 caps

3. Tomokazu Myojin 26 caps

4. Nozomi Hiroyama 2 caps

5. Atsushi Yanagisawa 58 caps

6. Yoshiteru Yamashita 3 caps

7. Satoshi Yamaguchi 2 caps


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8. Yuichiro Naga I 4 caps

9. Shunsuke Nakamura 98 caps

1999

1. Akira Kaji 64 caps

2. Junichi Inamoto 82 caps

3. Tomoyuki Sakai 1 cap

4. Mitsuo Ogasawara 55 caps

5. Naohiro Takahara 57 caps

6. Masashi Motoyama 28 caps

7. Yasuhito Endo 111 caps

8. Koji Nakata 57 caps

9. Shinji Ono 56 caps

10. Yuichiro Nagai 4 caps

11. Ryuji Bando 7 caps

2001

1. Toruyuki Moniwa 9 caps

2. Yuichi Komano 60 caps

3. Takeshi Aoki 2 caps

4. Naohiro Ishikawa 5 caps

5. Hisato Sato 31 caps

6. Koji Yamase 13 caps

7. Ryoichi Maeda 14 caps

2003

1. Eiji Kawashima 23 caps

2. Yuhei Tokunaga 7 caps

3. Naoya Kikuchi 1 cap

4. Mitsuru Nagata 2 caps

5. Yasuyuki Konno 47 caps


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6. Daigo Kobayashi 1 cap

7. Daisuke Sakata 1 cap

8. Satoru Yamagishi 11 caps

9. Yuzo Kurihara 6 caps

10. Sota Hirayama 4 caps

2005

1. Hiroki Mizumoto 19 caps

2. Masahiko Inoha 6 caps

3. Sota Hiroyama 4 caps

4. Koki Mizuno 4 caps

5. Keisuke Honda 31 caps

6. Akihiro Ienaga 2 caps

7. Takayuki Morimoto 9 caps

8. Shusaku Nishikawa 5 caps

ANALYSIS

U17 WORLD CUP

Year of

competition

1993 1995 2001

Successful

players (%)

22.20 22.20 16.70


U20 WORLD CUP

Year of

competition

1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005

Successful

players (%)

33.30 50.00 61.10 36.80 50.00 38.10



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NIGERIA


1993

1. Celestine Babayaro

2. Pascal Ojigwe

3. Nwankwo Kanu

4. Wilson Oruma

1995

1. Albert Yobo

2. James Obiorah

1997 (Absent)

[email protected]

FIFA U 17 WORLD CUP

26 caps

17 caps

87 caps

19 caps

1 cap

3 caps

[email protected]


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1999 (Absent)

2001

1. Richard Eromoigbe 6 caps

2. Femi Opabunmi 2 caps

3. Akpan Bassey 1 cap

2003

1. Isaac promise 3 caps

2. John Obi Mikel 33 caps

3. Chinedu Obasi Ogbuke 17 caps

4. Solomon Okoronkwo 2 caps

2005 (Absent)


1993 (Absent)

1995 (Absent)

1997 (Absent)

1999

1. Samuel Okunowo 8 caps

2. Haruna Babangida 1 cap

3. Pius Ikedia 15 caps

4. Joseph Yobo 81 caps

5. Rabiu Afolabi 20 caps

6. Jilius Aghahowa 32 caps


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2001 (Absent)

2003 (Absent)

2005

1. Taye Taiwo 48 caps

2. Onyekachi Apam 7 caps

3. Monday James 1 cap

4. Chinedu Ogbuke 17 caps

5. John Obi Mikel 33 caps

6. Isaac Promise 3 caps

7. Solomon Okoronkwo 2 caps

8. Adfemi Olubayo (RIP) 5 caps

9. Dele Adeleye 9 caps

10. Sani Kaita 24 caps

11. John owoeri 1 cap

INTERESTING FACTS:

1. Albert Yobo is the elder brother of current captain of the Super Eagles, Joseph Yobo.

2. Nwankwo Kanu holds the record for most substitute appearances in the English

premier League history, appearing from the bench 118 times.

ANALYSIS

U17 WORLD CUP

Year of

competition

1993 1995 2001 2003

Successful

players (%)

22.20 22.20 16.70 20.00



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U20 WORLD CUP

Year of

competition

1999 2005

Successful

players (%)

33.30 52.40



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SPAIN


1993 (Absent)

1995 (Absent)

1997

1. Iker Casillas

2. Xavi Hernandez

1999

1. Jose Manuel Reina

2. Fernand Navarro

2001

1. Andres Iniesta

[email protected]

FIFA U 17 WORLD CUP

124 caps

103 caps

22 caps

3 caps

61 caps

[email protected]


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2. Fernando Torres 87 caps

2003

1. David Silva 50 caps

2. Francesc Fabregas 60 caps

2005 (Absent)


1993 (Absent)

1995

1. Cesar Martin 12 caps

2. Raul Gonzalez 102 caps

3. Michel Salgado 53 caps

4. Ivan de la Pena 5 caps

5. Joseba Etxeberria 53 caps

6. Fernando Morientes 47 caps

1997

1. Javier Farinos 2 caps

2. Miguel Angel Angulo 11 caps

3. Gerard Lopez 6 caps

4. David Albelda 51 caps

1999

1. Daniel Aranzubia 1 cap

2. Pablo Orbaiz 4 caps

3. Carlos Marchena 69 caps

4. Gabri Garcia 3 caps


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5. Xavi Hernandez 103 caps

6. Iker Casillas 124 caps

2001 (Absent)

2003

1. Andres Iniesta 61 caps

2. Sergio Garcia 2 caps

3. Manu del Moral 1 cap

4. Javier Arizmendi 1 cap

2005

1. Raul Albiol 30 caps

2. Fernando Llorente 18 caps

3. David Silva 50 caps

4. Francesc Fabregas 60 caps

INTERESTING FACTS:

1. Marc Bernaus, Spanish player at the 1997 U20 world cup, has 22 caps for Andorra.

2. Aside being capped as full internationals, the following players have also lined up

for the Catalonia National team: Xavi Hernandez (8 caps), Fernando Navarro (3

caps), Andres Iniesta (1 cap), Francesc Fabregas (1 cap) and Sergio Garcia (8 caps).

ANALYSIS

U17 WORLD CUP

Year of

competition

1997 1999 2001 2003

Successful

players (%)

11.10 11.10 11.10 10.00



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U20 WORLD CUP

Year of

competition

1995 1997 1999 2003 2005

Successful

players (%)

33.30 22.20 33.30 20.00 19.00



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CHART

DEDUCTIONS FROM THE CHART

1. The chances of featuring in the national team are observed to be higher in the U20

teams than in the U17 teams.

2. South America, Asia and Africa performed better than Europe in the competitions

surveyed.

3. The rankings of each country is shown in the table below:

S/N COUNTRY

1 Japan

2 Argentina

3 Ghana

4 Nigeria

5 Brazil

6 Germany

0 10

Argentina

Brazil

Germany

Ghana

Japan

Nigeria

Spain

C

o

u

n

t

r

i

e

s

Countries and their averages

[email protected]

DEDUCTIONS FROM THE CHART

The chances of featuring in the national team are observed to be higher in the U20

teams than in the U17 teams.

South America, Asia and Africa performed better than Europe in the competitions

The rankings of each country is shown in the table below:

POSITION (U17) POSITION (U20)

1 1

1 1

3 3

3 4

5 5

6 7

10 20 30 40

Average of successful layers (%)

Countries and their averages

[email protected]

The chances of featuring in the national team are observed to be higher in the U20

South America, Asia and Africa performed better than Europe in the competitions

50

U20 U17


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7 Spain 7 6

The indication of the results shown above is self revealing in itself. Note that this study

doesn’t consider talent and quality, the main emphasis is on the effectiveness of the FIFA

age group competitions as a nursery bed for future players of a country.

There are numerous factors which either hamper or spur the growth of a player who

featured in an age group competition and became a revelation. Some of these are:

1. Injury

2. Attitude and personality

3. Choice of club the player moves to

4. Compatibility with a national team coach’s plan

5. Competition for places in the national team squad


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CONCLUSION

The world of football can be best described by a pyramid. Depending on how you place it,

you always observe that one end is much bigger than the other. A good illustration of this in

the world of football is the annual release of the top 50 footballers complied by the popular

football website, goal.com. This list is known as Goal.com Top 50.

Of the 50 players listed, only 19 competed in a Fifa age group competition. This trend is an

indication of the emergence of football talents from other routes other than Fifa

competitions. In Europe, the UEFA age group completion is a breeding ground for talents.

In some instance, some of these players do not even get the opportunity to participate in

Fifa age group competitions because their countries fail to qualify. Additionally, some

others are unable to participate because of injuries. There are also those who at a tender

age are already first team players at their club side, and so the coaches refuse to allow them

to participate.

In all, it is fair to say that although the Fifa age group competitions produce plenty talents

there are other avenue for the emergence of such talents.

football talent & fifa age group competitions

Documents

conclusion page

cover page

fifa age group tourney

u17 world cup

fifa u17

fifa u20 world cup1993

nigeria u20 world cup

u20 world cup competition